Board, Thornton butt heads again over making MPS food service more efficient

After more than a year of discussion about an issue that has often pitted Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton against members of the Milwaukee School Board, the majority of the board Thursday night voted to establish a central commissary run by district employees.

Thornton had wanted the board to approve the establishment of a leased commissary site, but to leave open the option of partnering with a local nonprofit to provide staffing at the commissary.

The 5-4 vote in favor of a central kitchen run by district staff effectively closes the door on that option, something the board sort of did already in 2010 when it directed the cancellation of a request the administration had initiated for proposals from outside food service providers.

The main issue is that the district's current food service system, which it spent more than $42 million on last year, is financially unsustainable.

One big reason for that: MPS has for years provided its part-time food service workers with full-time benefits, meaning it pays its workers more in fringe benefits than salary.

Currently, food service is made up of 99 MPS employees working three-hour shifts, and 48 temporary workers on 3-hour shifts, according to information from MPS.

The current benefit rate for MPS employees in food service is 105.8%.

The administration is just starting to project what its budget will be for the next school year, but it's proposing that it can reduce its number of food service workers to 87, and reduce the benefit rate from 105.8% to 102.7%, according to information from the district.

A central commissary is needed to prepare approximately 38,000 meals to serve all elementary schools. The district currently has a commissary site at Vincent High School on the north side and another at the Fritsche school building on the south side, but service could be made more efficient at one site.

Neither current commissary has the space to accommodate that plan.

The district plans to lease a commissary instead of buying its own because it can't use federal stimulus money for purchasing a site, according to MPS.

School board director Jeff Spence, who voted against the motion to have a commissary run by district staff only, said in an interview the board shouldn't avoid looking at any and all options when it comes to making the production and delivery of food for students more efficient.

Board member Larry Miller, who voted in favor of the motion for a commissary run by district staff only, said in an interview that he hoped the district could eventually allow special-education high school students to get some work experience at the central kitchen.

"Job training of our own students is critical to me," Miller said. "If you look at what's gone on around in the country, in states like Michigan, there has been no benefit to outsourcing (food service)."

About Erin Richards

Erin Richards covers K-12 education in urban and suburban Milwaukee, as well as state politics related to education issues.